Over The Hurdles and Through The Hoops
by yesitsme
Summary: He handed her his heart, and she accidentally dropped it. (LL)
1. Default Chapter

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Title: Over The Hurdles and Through The Hoops

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Disclaimer: Everyone knows ASP owns the show and its characters, not me. But if I did…ha, well, I guess that's what writing fan fiction is for.

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A/N: I think this is going to be my first on-going Luke and Lorelai fiction. Guess we'll see…

She felt his hand rest on her hip and watched his feet step toward her. Looking up was something she couldn't manage. It was all going so fast. The things he said, the look he gave her...how could this have happened?

"Lorelai," he whispered. Now she didn't have a choice; she looked up.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She couldn't speak, she couldn't think, all she could do was feel. The moment came rushing toward her at full force and she was powerless to stop it. But she didn't want to stop it, she wanted it to crash into her and knock her to her feet so she could feel...whatever this was, and take it in for all it was worth.

She swallowed hard and rested her hand on his shoulder, the other on the side of his face. She wanted him to feel the same emotion that she had felt. Cupping his chin, she moved in slowly and gently grazed his lips with hers.

Her pounding heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest as she came to her conclusion. The power, the emotion...it all made sense now. Love. Love at full force, crashing into her, the way she had wanted.

She pulled away and stared into his unsure eyes. Why was he looking at her that way? She felt his hand detach from her hip and brush against her cheek.

"Why are you crying?"

"What?"

He held his hand out in front of her, showing her the tear drops that had left his fingers damp.

She felt her face, "I don't...I don't know."

"Did I do something wrong?"

Lorelai stared at him, feeling her high slowly wear off and reality rushing in to take its vacancy.

"No," she breathed. "Everything's...perfect."

Luke wrapped his arm around Lorelai and rested his hand on the small of her back, before gently pulling her closer. "That's good."

"Yea," she sighed. Reality. It clocked in at record time with 1.3 seconds. She watched his smile mimic hers as it slowly faded away.

She stepped backward and wiped her eyes quickly, letting Luke's hand drift down to his side. He suddenly felt all to vulnerable, but before he knew what he was doing, he had taken a step forward.

Lorelai avoided eye contact, wrapping her arms defensively around her waist as she shook her head.

"Hey, what is it?" Luke asked, calmly.

__

"This is crazy," she whispered to herself.

"Whoa, _what_?"

She tucked her hair behind her ears, _"_This...it's...it's insane!"

"What's insane? I pour my heart out to you, _you_ kiss _me_, then you start crying and call _this_ insane?"

She looked up and bit her lip. How was she supposed to talk her way out of this one?

"Luke, I know that this...this seems right. But I don't think it is." She could practically see the knifes flying into his heart. "I don't mean ever, I just meant not now. I'm dealing with so much, and the stress is unbelievable."

"I can help you through it," Luke stammered. "I can be there for you. I mean, you know, I've been there for you before so, it's not like it's a change, and…" Luke paused, searching for the words. "We can be a team, it'll-"

"Luke," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. Was there a possibility that this could be more painful for her than it was for him? "I don't want to mess up what we have. Our friendship - it means so much to me. You mean so much to me, and my track record with relationships isn't the best, and I don't want to ruin...us."

He stared at his shoes, unable to believe what was going on. He'd finally gotten what he had hoped to get for so many years, and in the same night, had it stolen away.

"Fine," he answered dryly. "Whatever excuse makes you feel better."

Lorelai frowned, "Luke-"

"No. I'm not going to let you do this, Lorelai. I'm not going to let you sabotage this before it even starts." She stared at him, unsure what to say. "I'm going to leave now, and I'm going to forget that cliché crap you just spewed-"

"Hey-" Lorelai interjected.

He raised his voice in an effort to drown hers out, "And then I'm going to come see you tomorrow. Don't make this decision now. I want to give you time, and space, and I want you to think about it. Okay?"

Lorelai nodded.

He sighed heavily, "Good. Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Lorelai nodded again, "I uh, I guess you will."

Luke swallowed and shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to leave. Finally, he threw her one last look before clearing his throat and making a quiet exit down the steps of the Inn. Watching him leave, Lorelai sighed and let her body relax against the front door. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

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A/N: Let me know what you think.


	2. Disheveled

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Title: Over The Hurdles and Through The Hoops

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Chapter: Disheveled

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Disclaimer: No. Just...no.

A/N: Ok, I know this is quite a jump, but in my story the Rory/Dean debacle did not happen. Sorry to all you Narco's, but for me, it's just not going down.

Walking back inside the Inn, Lorelai walked slowly up the stairs and into her designated room. Shutting the door behind her, she smiled when she saw Rory on the bed, sorting C.D.'s.

"Mom, hey!" Rory said excitedly. "I picked a wide selection so we'd have choices, and then I picked a bunch that probably only you would like; but it's good to have options."

Lorelai covered her hands with her mouth, almost as if she were trying to stop herself, but the words spilled out anyway. "Luke kissed me."

"Duke hissed at who? Who's Duke?"

"No," Lorelai stomped her foot and let hands fall to her sides. "Luke, Rory! Luke kissed

me!"

Rory jumped off the bed, "Oh my God!"

"I know!"

"What did you do?"

"Well, I slapped him with my white glove of course."

"Mom," Rory whined.

Lorelai sighed, "I uh, well..."

"You 'uh, well'?"

"Well..." She was kind of enjoying making her daughter squirm for the details.

"Ok, seriously. Enough."

She took in a deep breath and continued. "I kissed him back," she whispered, almost as if she had been asked a question and she wasn't sure if her answer was correct or not.

"Wow."

"Wow? Why is that a wow? I mean, should I not have kissed him? Was that wrong? It's only Luke, and he's a great guy and...oh, God. It's Luke! It's Luke and now I'll never be able to get coffee or danishes again and I love my coffee and danishes!"

"Oookay."

"Ooh, and the pancakes! I'll miss the chocolate chip ones the most…"

Rory guided Lorelai to the bed and sat her down, "Why are you freaking out? Luke's a great guy, and plus, I thought you were okay with all of this. You guys waltzed and he got you those flowers, and I saw the way you two were looking at each other during dinner."

Lorelai scoffed, "We weren't _looking_ at each other..."

Rory tilted her head to the side and smirked at Lorelai, "Then you ran into Derrick."

"Hey, we have that comedic theme now, remember? Can't let our guests down."

"Mom-"

"I know, I know." Lorelai sighed, falling back onto the bed. "I think I just screwed up."

Concerned, Rory said beside her mother. "Tell me what happened."

Lorelai sighed and stared at the ceiling, remembering what had only happened a few minutes ago. The way he seemed so sincere, so happy, and how she had led him on the whole time. All he wanted was for her to feel the same way, and instead, she crushed him. She looked back at Rory, who was waiting for an explanation. Suddenly, it seemed a little to painful to talk about.

"He kissed me and then um, you know...I kissed him."

Rory sat quietly, waiting for more to the story. When she saw that Lorelai had no plans to continue, she pushed for it. "Okay...and then?"

"And then...that's it." Lorelai quickly grabbed one of the C.D.'s beside her, "Chutes Too Narrow, good choice."

Rory snatched it back, "Stop."

"Hey! I was complimenting your C.D. picking abilities."

Rory tossed the C.D. back onto the bed, out of Lorelai's reach. "You were being evasive."

"You need to learn how to take compliments better than that honey, or you're going to end up with no friends."

"Mom, come on."

"Except for me, of course, but that-"

"Oh, no." Rory sighed, figuring it out. "You freaked."

"Yea." Lorelai answered dryly, "Big time."

"Any irreversible damage?"

Lorelai shook her head.

"That's good. Any psychological trauma?"

"None from Luke."

"Okay, even better." Rory got up and walked over to her backpack before picking it up and throwing it on the bed between where she and Lorelai sat.

Lorelai propped herself up onto her elbows. "Are we running away again?"

"Nope," Rory pulled out a notebook and a sharp number two pencil.

"Alright kid," Lorelai laughed, "what's going on?"

"I told you before that if you were with Luke, then you were _with_ Luke." Rory opened her notebook and began to scribble a few things down. "Now, you told me nothing was done that couldn't be fixed. And you guys already kissed. So," Rory turned her notebook to show Lorelai what she had written.

"Oh, no." Lorelai groaned, falling back onto the bed. "I don't wanna."

"You're already to far in now, Mom. You kissed him, so that means there has to be some feelings there on your side too. I'm just helping you figure them out."

Lorelai sighed and finally sat up right, "Look Ror, I think this is a little to complicated to figure out with a 'Pro and Con' list."

"Hey," Rory replied defensively, "nothing is to complicated for a pro and con list. You told me that."

"You're right, and nothing is...except this."

"But-"

Lorelai stopped her, "No, sweetie. In fact, I'm really tired. And today was going really great up until, well, up until I screwed it up. So," Lorelai gentle stole Rory's pencil and notebook away from her, "lets just put this away for now and we'll deal with it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow it won't be fresh on your mind the way it is tonight."

"See, that's exactly what I was hoping."

"Mom!"

"Rory, no. Just let it go. Tomorrow, okay? We'll deal with this tomorrow. Now put this stuff back, throw in a good C.D., and lets call it a night."

"Fine," Rory sighed. "Tomorrow? You promise?"

"I promise, babe." Lorelai leaned over and kissed Rory's forehead. "Now lets go to bed."

"Okay," Rory smiled. She began to walk to the bathroom, but before entering, she stopped in the doorway. "You know Mom, Luke is a really, really great guy; and he's always had a thing for you."

Lorelai smiled sadly, "I know."

"Just checking." With that, Rory disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Lorelai with her own disheveled thoughts.

Plopping back down onto the bed, she ran her hands through her hair until they met at the back of her neck. Her daughters words rang in her ears…had he always had a thing for her? Since day one? 'No,' she thought, pushing the thoughts out of her head. Tomorrow. I'm going to deal with all of this tomorrow.' She got out of bed and left her room, making one last check around the Inn before heading off to sleep.

"I thought it couldn't get any better, Lorelai, but then I had the eggs! Oh, it was a scrambled heaven, I tell ya!"

Lorelai chuckled, "Well thank you Babette, I'll be sure to let Sookie know."

"You're doing a great job, doll. I'm really proud of ya."

"Well thank you for coming to the test run. It really means a lot to me to have everyone here like this."

Babette pulled Lorelai into an unexpected hug and squeezed her tight, "You deserve it hon."

Patting her back, Lorelai smiled and thanked Babette before they pulled apart.

"Remember, if you need anything-"

"You'll be the first person I call." Lorelai finished.

Babette smiled and pulled at Morey's sleeve, "Ready?" Sticking his elbow out, Babette linked her arm with his and giggled. "He's such a gentlemen!"

Watching them leave, Lorelai smiled. They were the last couple out and everything had gone as planned. Sookie hadn't burned the place down, nothing was broken, and judging from the few comment cards she had looked at, the complaints were minimal. Picking up all the room keys on her desk, she began to put them back in their places.

"Where'd everyone go?"

Lorelai jumped back, "Oh, geez Rory. Announce yourself."

"Sorry, I thought you heard me."

Lorelai went back to organizing the room keys. "Yea, you and your whole two ounces coming down the stairs. How could I miss you?"

"Yea, yea. So I'm assuming everyone went home then?"

"Yup." Lorelai knelt down behind her desk, opening a few drawers and searching for something. "Hey, I think we're missing a room key."

"Um, Mom?"

"Hang on a second honey." Searching more thoroughly, Lorelai chastised herself when she couldn't locate the key. "Great, it's key seven. I can't believe I lost key seven! I thought I had all the keys, I know I collected them before everyone left-"

"Mom."

"But I can't find it. Do you remember who was staying in room seven?" Lorelai stood up, resting her hands on her hips and still staring inside the open drawers.

"Actually, I think it was Luke. Which is convenient, because-"

"Oh," Lorelai closed her eyes and shook her head. "I forgot. Luke. How could I forget? Dammit."

Rory smiled, "You could ask him for it back."

"Or...you could!"

"Mom, I don't think that's going to work. He's right-"

Slamming the drawers shut, Lorelai looked up and finally saw what her daughter had been trying to tell her. "Oh, Luke! What a...surprise." she said, glaring at Rory.

"...here," Rory finished. "Hey, I tried to tell you." Knowing they were going to need some time alone, she took this time to make her exit. "I'm going to go get the C.D.'s."

Lorelai stopped Rory from making her exit, quickly running to get in her way. "C.D.'s? What C.D.'s? I thought you said you were going to stay down here and help me...do that thing."

"No, I was going to, but then you said you had that thing under control."

"I never said that," Lorelai whispered so only Rory could hear.

"He's just trying to give you back the key!" Rory whispered back.

"But I'm not sure if I want the key, remember? You and I were supposed to talk about me accepting the key or not!"

Rory shook her head, "I'll be back." She said at a normal volume. Dodging beside Lorelai, she made her way upstairs.

"Rory!" Lorelai whispered. "Get back here!" Watching Rory leave, she silently cursed her for, first off, not sticking around, and secondly, not informing her of Luke's arrival earlier. But out of the two, she was definitely going to pay the most for the former. Turning back to Luke, she smiled and wrung her hands together, hoping she didn't look as uncomfortable as she felt.

Luke lifted his hand, the room key dangling from his index finger. "I came to bring you back your key. Or should I just give it to Rory?"

"Oh," Lorelai laughed nervously, "I was just joking, you know. I knew you were there the whole time, and I just thought that...you know, it'd be funny if I said something like..."

Luke smiled at her ramblings and decided to put her out of her misery. Taking her hand, he gently placed the key in her palm. Instantly, she stopped talking and froze in her place. Staring at the key in her hand, she made no attempt to move, and instead began to silently hope that by the time she looked back up - Luke would be gone. She wasn't ready to talk, she wasn't ready to make her decision. She needed her time, and her space, just the way he had promised. She took a deep breath, preparing herself to tell him all of this, and looked up.

But he was gone.

She sighed heavily and let her body relax. "Dammit," she whispered. They weren't even dating and he already had her emotions in a tailspin.

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A/N: If you like where it's going, then let me know, because it's quite the motivator.


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